Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing system, a license server, a communication relay device, a non-transitory readable recording medium and a data restoration method. The present invention more specifically relates to a technique of data restoration when the communication relay device that relays communications between an application server and an image processing device is replaced.
Description of the Background Art
Even when a conventional encryption key in device becomes unusable, encrypted data stored in a storage in the device is recovered. This known technique is introduced for example in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. JP 2008-236092 A. According to this known technique, the encryption key is printed in advance on a sheet before a controller board is broken. If the controller board is replaced due to the malfunction, a user inputs the encryption key printed in advance on the sheet through an operational panel. Thus, the encryption key is restored in a replaced controller board. The replaced controller board is allowed to decrypt the encrypted data in the storage with the restored encryption key, and restore the data.
Recently, application servers have been installed on a cloud on an internet, and they provide with a variety of application services (cloud services). As the users have an access to the application services at anytime from anywhere, those application services are convenient for the users. Image processing devices such as MFPs (Multifunction Peripherals) installed at places such as offices capable of executing jobs by working in concert with the application servers have been popular along with the popularization of the application services. The image processing device, for example, accesses the application server, thereby downloading data such as a document or an image stored in the application server and executing a print job based on the data, or uploading image data generated by a scan job to the application server.
Also, the application server is allowed to send a job such as a print job to the image processing device. The image processing device, however, is installed on a local network which blocks an access from the internet with a firewall. For the application server to send data such as the print job to the image processing device, a communication relay device that relays communications between the application server and the image processing device is required on the local network. The communication relay device relays the communications between the application server on the cloud and the image processing device on the local network. The communication relay device forwards the data from the application server to the image processing device, or forwards the data from the image processing device to the application server. With installation of the communication relay device on the local network, the application server is allowed to send the data to the image processing device in the local network over the firewall. Thus, the application server and the image processing device are allowed to communicate with each other to work in concert with each other.
The above-described communication relay device generates and stores relay information to relay the communications between the application server and the image processing device. The relay information includes information to communicate with the application server over the internet and information to communicate with the image processing device over the local network, for instance. In response to receiving data which designates the image processing device as an address from the application server, the communication relay device identifies information such as a port number based on the relay information generated in advance, and forwards the data to the image processing device. The communication relay device may receive the data designating the application server as an address from the image processing device. In also this case, the communication relay device identifies the information such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and the port number of the application server based on the relay information, and forwards the data to the application server.
For the system on which the communication relay device relays the communications between the application server and the image processing device as described above, when the communication relay device is broken and does not work anymore, it is replaced to a new communication relay device. In such a case, the relay information is not stored in the new communication relay device. It is required to generate again the relay information. It, however, costs time and effort to newly register the information such as the information to communicate with the application server with the replaced communication relay device. A communication relay function is not recovered immediately. That is why it is expected to transfer the relay information stored in the previous communication relay device to the communication relay device replaced.
In order to use the data restoration method according to the conventional technique, it is required for the user to print in advance the relay information stored in the communication relay device on the sheet as the communication relay device operates normally. If the user has not printed the relay information on the sheet, the data restoration cannot be carried out immediately for the communication relay device newly installed due to the replacement.